Flying machine



P 13, 1932- E. BURKHART 1,877,474

FLYING MACHINE Filed July 21. 1930 s Sheets-Sheet 1 m: 7 mu IIIII llll! I 10-- nmm Fig.5

Eddie fiurkhar'i" am an Sept. 13, 1932. BURKHART 1,877,474

FLY ING MACHINE' p 9 I E. BURKHART FLYING MACHI E Filed July 21. 1950' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Eddie Burkba r+ Patented Sept. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDDIE BURKHART, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON FLYING MACHINE Application filed July 21,

crease the lateral control of the machine; andto provide an initial lift to the machine fore it has any forward motion.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which 1 I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the complete machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the forward portion of the body of the machine; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the same portion thereof; Fig. 6 is a front elevation thereof, with the propelling means omitted therefrom; Fig.- 7 is a vertical section of one of the wings, taken at a point near the root thereof; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the wing;

and Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that I have mounted the usual rotating propeller within the open forward end of the body, and that I conduct the stream of air into two parts, conducting each part of this air-stream laterally, at right angles to its original direction, into the interior of the two wings, and release the air therefrom in a plurality of streams positioned substantially parallel to the trailing edge of the wing and forward thereof, and directed rearward of the machine. a

The body 1 of the airplane may be made of any approved and suitable type of construction. It is shown in the drawings as being surfaced with wood or metal, and supports the-engine 2, indicated in broken lines body of the machine, drawing the air into the 1930. Serial No. 469,422.

I in the drawings, by means of suitable struts 3 extending across the forwardly-extending open mouth 4 of the body 1. The location of the engine 2 in the mouth 4, as shown in the drawings, is purely a matter of convenience or design and it may be positioned elsewhere if desired. But the propeller 5, which is driven by the engine 2, is located well within the open mouth of the body, as shown. This forwardly-extending open mouth 4 is provided with a lining 6, of wood or metal.

separated from the outer skin of the body 1, and enclosing all structural obstructions within the space between it and the said outer skin of the body, thereby leaving the throat substantially free of allsuch parasitic resistances. The mouth and throat. formed by the said lining 6 is substantially the full diameter. of the body 1, at the entrance thereto, but contracts somewhat in diameter on an easy curve 7 forward of the propeller, and then expands again in diameter at 8 as the propeller is approached, and again contracts in diameter on a curved conical form, as at 9, until the line of the wings 10 is reached.

The wings 10 are also of double skin construction, being provided with an inner surface 11, which forms anair conduit leading therefrom into the body 1 and connecting so with the throat 9 at the rear of the propeller 5. The rear lines of such conduits 11 are brought forward at 12 and are joined together, on the central'axis of the air-stream from the propeller, to form a sharp separating wall or prow 13, adapted to split the airstream within the throat and to turn veach part thereof at right-angles to itself into the air as possible, and therefore with but little 96 resistance-to the free flow of the air therein.

Immediately in front of the prow 13 of I this rear wall of the throat, and between it and the propeller 5, I mount a small streamlined rudder 14. Thi rudder 14 may be M l to direct the stream of air issuing from the wing.

turned on its axis by means of the hand lever 15, positioned adjacent to the pilots seat 16, and which is connected by suitable mechanism, comprising the connecting rods 17 and the bell-crank lever 18, to the lever 19 mounted on the lower pivot 20 of the said rudder 14;, whereby said rudder may be turned on its vertical axis to divert some of the air-stream from one side passage to the other, thus increasing the flow of air into the wing on the one side of the machine and decreasing in, on the other side thereof.

The wings 10 of the airplane are illustrated as of very deep camber, with a substantially horizontal upper line and a pronounced dihedral angle formed by the lower surfaces of the wings. The details of the structural framework ofthe-wing is indicated only by the front and rear beams 21 and 22, respecall obstructions due'to the structure of the wing. As seen specially in Fig. 7, the rear portlon of the space between the inner and outer skins-11 and 23 of the wing, is taken up by specially shaped vanes 24, with air.

passages 25 between them, permitting the escape of the air from-the interior of the wing in a series of blasts or streams, each extending substantially the full span of the wing and directed by the vanes 24 towards the rear ofkthe wing. One set 26 of these passages 25 pass through the upper skin of,

the wing near the trailing edge, thereof, with a section 27 in front of the aileron; another set 28 are correspondingly positioned in the under surface of the wing;- while a third set 29 also pass through the-said under surface of the wing but are positioned in front of the rear beam 22 and occupy the major portlon of the said under surface, as illustrated 1n Fig. 9. These vanes 24 runsubstantially parallel with the general span of. the wing and may be divided into sections by the structural ribs 30 of the wing, as required and as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Each vane 24 is of streamline form in section, that is to say, each vane is cambered similarly to an'airplane wing section with its point of greatest thickness forward of its central point and is bent adjacent air passages 25 towards the rear of the machine as it escapes outward from the The form ofthese vanes 24 and the position of the adjacent vanes, relatively to each other, being similar to a series of staggered airplane wings, results in the passages 25 formed thereby leaving the inside of the wind in a direction substantially at rightangles to the wing surface and then in a constriction of the passages 25 between them, near the outlet thereof, with the result that the velocity of the air is materially increased as it leaves said air passages 25 in a rearward direction.

The effect of this series of air-streams passing outward from the rear and under side of the wing is manifold. Its primary purpose is to provide a forward thrust on the wing. This forward thrust is partially obtained from the friction of the moving column of air on the surrounding stationary air. Thisfriction is proportionate to the surface of the moving column of air. Comparing the surface of the moving column of airdriven directly rearward from a rotating'propeller with the surface of'the moving column of air issuing from the rear edge of the wings of my machine, it is obvious that there is a very large increase in such surface in favor of my machine and that, therefore, it may be expected that, in-so-far as such friction is concerned, the thrust. of such air-stream 1n my machine will be greater than with the ordinary rotating propeller. Also the effect of this moving air on the lift of the wing is of great importance, supplying an increase of pressure under the w1ng and placing substantially the full span of the wing in the slipstream of the propeller, and therefore very materially increasing the lift of the wing in relation to the forward speed of the.

machine through the air. In fact, even though the machine may have no forward motion, it is evident that the streams of air, issuing in a rearward direction from the rear surfaces of thewing, will induce a corresponding motion of the surrounding air over and under the wings, with the result that the wings are thus given an initial lift before the machine begins to move over the ground.

Another effect of this form ofwing is to substantially eliminate the burble point from the characteristic of the wing, thereby permitting a higher angle of incidence and reducing the dangers of slow flight, increasing the convenience of handling the machlne, reducing the take-ofi and landing runs of the machine at the airport. An additional effect is found in the fact that, though the machine itself may have lost flying speed, the flow of air from the passages 25 in the-sets 27 and- 29, adjacent to the ailerons willmaintain an airspeed past the ailerons and enable the pilot to maintain control of the machine. v

There are, of course, many changes which may be made in the details of my machine, without departing from the spirit of my invention as outlined in the appended claims, SlJ-Ch Changes being more a matter of design having a plurality of engines, or in the details of construction of the airplane.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. A flying machine, having a forwardlyexposed opening; a propelling means within said opening and adapted to draw air thereinto; a hollow wing; an air conduit'leading from said propelling means to said hollow wing; and fixed vanes forming a substantial portion of the wing area, said vanes being separated by passages, each such passage starting at its inner end in a direction substantially at right-angles to the wing sur face and curving therefrom towards the rear and adapted to release the air from said hollow wing and to direct it towards the rear.

2. A flying machine, having a forwardly-- exposed opening; a propelling means within said opening and adapted to draw air thereinto; a double-skinned hollow wing; an air conduit leading from said propelling means to the interior of said hollow wing; and separated vanes mounted between the two skins of said wing, with outlets therebetween, adapted to release the air from said wing and to direct it towards the rear therefrom.

3. A flying machine having an exposed opening; means for forcing air thereinto; an air conduit leading from said opening; a wing having a closed trailing edge; an aileron forming an adjustable part of said wing; and outlets for said conduit positioned forward of said aileron, in the upper and under surfaces of said wing, and directing the airstream therefrom rearward towards the outer surfaces of said aileron.

4. A flying machine, having an exposed opening; means for forcing air thereinto; an air conduit leading from said opening; a wing; anda series of vanes mounted in the surface of the wing and forming outlets for the conduit between them, each said outlet comprising a passage starting in a direction substantially at right-angles to the wing surface and being curved to direct the airstream towards the rear of saidwing.

5. A flying machine, having an exposed opening; means for forcing air thereinto; an air conduit leading from said opening; a wing; and a series ofvanes mounted in the surface of the wing and forming outlets for the conduit between them, each said vane being mounted in staggered relation to the adjacent vanes and being of cambered section each vane having its greatest thickness in advance of its midpoint, the outlets formed by any two adjacent vanes starting in a direction substantially at right-angles to the wing surface and curving therefrom towards the rear and being constricted in area at apoint adjacent the outlet of said passage.

6. A flying machine having a forwardly-exposed openmg; a propelling means within said openlng and adapted to draw air therev into; a hollow wing; an air conduit leading from said propelling means to said hollow wing; and fixed vanes formin portion of the wing area an 1positioned. in sets, each set comprising a plura ity of similar fixed vanes separated by passages, each such passage startin at its inner end in a direction substantial y at right-angles to the wingv surface, and curving therefrom-towards the rear and adapted to release the air from said hollow wing and to direct it towards the rear.

EDDIE BURKHART.

a substantial 

